City settles with two Arevalos victims for $245K

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council agreed on Tuesday to pay $245,000 in settlements to two women who filed lawsuits alleging sex abuse by former police Officer Anthony Arevalos.

The 18-year veteran was convicted of eight felonies last year for fondling women and eliciting sexual bribes during traffic stops in the Gaslamp Quarter. He is serving a sentence of nearly nine years in prison.

A $75,000 settlement was approved for one woman who alleged Arevalos tried to solicit a sexual bribe while taking her to jail following a DUI arrest in 2011. U-T San Diego is not publishing her name because she is a victim of a sex crime.

The criminal DUI charge was later dismissed against her.

Another woman, Marjan Montazemi, will receive $170,000, according to public documents. Montazemi, who asked to be identified by her full name during Arevalos’ trial, alleged the officer groped her and made inappropriate remarks during a DUI stop in the Gaslamp in 2011.

A jury acquitted Arevalos of the criminal counts involving her. A judge last month dismissed her lawsuit against the city, but she was allowed to refile it at a future date.

So far, the city has paid $1.4 million to 11 people who alleged they were abused by Arevalos, including a $675,000 settlement to a woman last month, according to the City Attorney’s Office. That woman claimed Arevalos touched her breasts and put his hand down her pants during a traffic stop in 2010.